Eliminating TV

We may have to end up sacrificing something so that we can have what our hearts truly desire.

We don't own a TV. In fact, I haven't watched television in 8 years—maybe longer. One afternoon, we had friends over for lunch and their 5-year-old son was running around our home screaming in his tiny voice, "Where's the TV?!" He was baffled at the fact that we don't own one.

There's a particular reason I don't watch TV anymore. It was an obstacle to my spiritual health. Many years ago, I was watching my sixth episode of Storage Wars, the ridiculous show where people would bid for storage units that were in default of payment. Prospective bidders hoped to find something valuable in the units to sell. As I was watching the show on this particular day, a thought came to me: why don't I seem to have enough time each day to pray to God and serve Him? Of course, the irony of watching my sixth episode of this TV show didn't escape me. I made a commitment that day to stop watching television altogether.

I went "cold turkey" with television because I didn't have the discipline at the time to gradually cut down on the amount of TV I watched per day. If I watched even just one episode, chances were I wouldn't be able to stop myself from watching more. And so, going cold turkey was the way to go for me.

I'm not saying that everyone should quit watching TV. You may have good reasons to watch television. For me, the bad reasons far outweighed the good. And so I made a decision to cut it out completely. But here's the point that I'm trying to make with this blog post: there was something more valuable that I wanted in life. I wanted to have a closer relationship with Christ and serve Him more in His Kingdom work. TV was the thing that was getting in the way of this. And so, I had to make a choice in the end. I made the choice to eliminate the obstacle so that I could have the thing that I really wanted: a closer relationship with my Lord and Savior.

What are the obstacles that are hindering you from having a closer relationship with God and serving Him in His Kingdom work? Identify what those distractions are and find ways to get rid of them. Whether we like it or not, we may have to end up sacrificing something so that we can have what our hearts truly desire.

Barnabas the Monastic

Servant of Christ. Husband. Dad. Modern Monastic. I have a wild ambition in life: get as close to the Lord Jesus Christ as I can while on earth. I explore and integrate ancient Christian monk wisdom in modern everyday life. Lives in Canada.